The best thing about being a ball girl or boy is being on court with some of the world’s best players according to youngsters who are on the front line.

Hundreds of teenagers from schools across the borough and beyond will be lining the grass courts at the world famous venue this year, expertly doing the job in hand while trying not to be noticed.

But it is not an easy task.

Teenagers including 15-year-olds George Gorman and Emma Mcloughlin are put through a strict training regime where they train for two and a half hours a week for months before the Wimbledon tennis championships, and even then they might not make the grade.

Manager Sarah Goldson said they can be dismissed instantly for chewing gum, wearing jewellery or not being up to scratch.

Miss Goldson said: “They have to cope under pressure.

“You can’t replicate that in training, for example the number of people watching.

“Some people say the training is harder than the championships.”

Harris Academy Merton pupils George Gorman and James Laughton, 14, are about to embark on their second year as ball boys for the championships.